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How To Speed Up Windows 10 in 2018

After the last few Windows 10 updates, it seems like my computer was getting slower and slower. In order to help you speed up your Windows 10 installation, I have found some great tips from itpro.co.uk to share with your guys. I have personally went through their article and want to share my favorite tips. To read the full article click here

A Windows 10 computer is much like any other machine running a copy of Windows; sooner or later it will start to slow down.

A Windows system not running as fast as it once did can be a frustrating experience. While you are unlikely to make it run as fast as it did the day you bought it (because in the meantime, you have added applications, files, and other bits and pieces), there are a number of ways of making a Windows 10 PC run better.

We’ve listed our favorite ways to do so below, covering everything from making the boot up process faster and preventing applications from loading when you turn on your machine, to deleting the annoying bloatware that comes pre-installed on so many machines.

It’s also a good idea to remove installed applications on a Windows 10 device that you no longer use. Furthermore, you’d do well to monitor any applications running in the background, as these can take up valuable CPU cycles and network bandwidth that you could be using for other things. Now, let’s get your Windows 10 machine running better…

Make login into Windows 10 quicker

Learn how to speed up your Windows 10 login time.

If you start by entering your password at Windows 10’s login window, you may want to consider not doing so. While it’s not too taxing to write out a memorised password every time you boot your PC, it makes the startup process longer and you probably don’t need to do it if you only use your machine in a secure place, and it’s only connecting to your secure (password-enabled) home Wi-Fi.

Of course, passwords are essential for security, so if you store very confidential information on your PC, or travel with it or use it in coffee shops or even at work, you will probably want to keep your password. But if that’s not the case, you can uncheck the box requiring you to enter a username and password to log in. Click apply, confirm your password, and Windows will never ask you for it again. It is worth noting, though, that even your home may not be the most secure environment – everybody can be burgled.

And disabling your password also means that anybody can fire up your Windows 10 PC and use it. This makes doing so a big no-no for portable laptops, but desktops are a safer bet.

Make shutting down Windows 10 faster

Learn how to improve the shut down speed for Windows 10.

If you like to shut down your computer after a hard day’s work, then you will realise that the process still requires three clicks. To speed this up you can use a shortcut. Simply right-click anywhere on a free part of the desktop then click New > Shortcut. In the Location field, type in the following.

%windir%\System32\shutdown.exe /s /t 0

Click on the Next to finish. Now each time you click on that shortcut, your PC will immediately shut down. Be careful though!

Disable Startup programs in Windows 10

Virtually every version of Windows allows you to disable startup items, and Windows 10 is no exception. Stopping some programs from starting up will speed up the OS.

To find this option, right-click the taskbar and choose Task Manager, and then click on the Startup tab. Here you can disable the programs you don’t want to start up.

Remove bloatware in Windows 10

No one likes bloatware (except PC manufacturers) but it does mean your system is slightly cheaper as a result. But you can ditch this crapware. For the most part, these are programs such as disc burning software, backup tools from the manufacturer or other utilities that you don’t necessarily need.

Why programs such as PC Decrapifier and CCleaner do a sterling job of getting rid of bloatware, if you have a brand new (but bloatware laden) computer, then a clean install of Windows 10 could be the best way of clearing out unnecessary software clogging up your system.

Make the Windows 10 Start menu and other Windows zippier

Improve the speed of the Windows 10 Start Menu

The brand new Windows 10 Start menu can be slower to pop up on older machines. This is because making this appear in a whiz-bang fashion consumes compute power. To turn off this animated feature, bring up Systems Properties (type in the search field sysdm.cpl and press Enter.)

Click on the Advanced tab, then click on the Settings button in Performance. Untick the box for Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing, then click Apply.

This should speed up not only the Start menu but also all other windows that appear on your desktop.

If you really wanted to, you can disable all visual effects to really speed Windows 10 up. Just click on the radio button next to Adjust for best performance.

Turn on Windows 10 Fast Startup

With Windows 10 there is a new “hybrid” startup mode that should cut down on bootup times. It does this by putting the PC into hibernation instead of fully shutting down.

To enable this, click on the Start button and type in “Control Panel” and press enter. In the control panel click on Hardware and Sound. A new page should appear, here click on Change what the power buttons do. Then click on Change settings that are currently unavailable. Finally, tick the box marked Turn on fast startup.

Disable services on Windows 10

As with all versions of Windows, working in the background are services. While some of them are vital to the smooth running, quite a few aren’t for day-to-day use. If you disable these services, you can speed up Windows 10.

To turn off services in windows, type: “services.msc” into the search field. Then double-click on the services you want to stop or disable.

There are many services that can be turned off but which ones depend on what you use Windows 10 for and whether or not you work in an office or from home. A great guide to the services that can be switch off can be found here.

Remember, though, stopping or disabling services can have unforeseen consequences. Many components or applications may stop working properly, so proceed with caution.

Clean up your Windows 10 disk

Thankfully, Windows 10 has a built-in Disk Cleanup tool which is extremely useful when you want to get rid of unnecessary files. To launch the tool, click on the Start button and then select the File Explorer link. Right-click Local Disk C: and choose Properties. Navigate to the General tab and then find the Disk Cleanup button. Once there, click “unnecessary files (temporary internet files, etc.)” then hit OK.

For advanced users, you can select the “Clean up system files” button to get rid of even more files. Following this, you can then…